Peter louis



N4 PERS. PHOTO'UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D C.

the plane indicated by the line Y, Y, of

UNITED sTATns PATENToFmcE. v

PETER LOUIS, OF NEW YORK, N.` Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,` AND `'HIRAMWANDEL, OF

` RICHMOND COUNTY,` NEIN YORK. t

VALVE-GEAR or STEAM-ENGINES.

Speccation of Letters Patent No Tol all 'whom 'it may cof/wem.'

Be it known that I, PETER Louis, of the ing drawings, forming a part ofthis speci-` fication, in which- Figure l, is a front elevation of theside pipes, valve chest and valve gear of a beam engine. Fig. 2, is avertical section at right `angles to Fig. 1, in the plane indicated bythe line X, X. Fig. 3, is a vertical section in Fig. l. i i i Similarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalligures. s

My invention relates to the direct application of steam to operate thevalves of steam engines, and is more especially intended for use in beamengines or other engines with upright cylinders, having puppet valves,but it may be applied to any engines whose valves have a verticalmotion. It consists in a novel mode of applying an auxiliary steamcylinder and pistons in` combination with the valves of the main engineto effect a quick opening and control the closing of said valves. And itfurther,`

consists in certain means of retaining the eduction valves of the mainengine in an` valve chests containing the usual system of balancedpuppet valves. a

The induction valves I, I, are exhibited in Fig. 3, and the eductionvalves E, E, in

Fig. 2, but Fig. l, though it exhibits none of the valves, exhibits thestems z', z", of both the induction valves and the stems e, e', of botheduction valves. The stems i, and e, of

thetwo upper valves pass through stuffing boxes in the bottom of thevalve chest A, and the stems i', and e', of the lower valves, throughstuiing boxes in the top of the valve chest B. The above described partsall belong to the main engine. i

. 26,275, dated November; 29,` 1859. 1; 1

l), is the auxiliary steam cylinder containing the pistons `Rand `F',upon whichl the Steam operates to open thevalves of the main engine,said cylinderbeing veryvsmall and having'atiansverse partitiong, (Fig.3) at the middle of its length and haviiigf` one piston above and theotlierbelow said partition, the rod c, of theupper piston F,

end and the rod c', of the lower one through j a stuffing box iii thelower end. This cylinder D, is secured iii an `upright position to: aframe G, which is bolted to the side `pipes i H, containing a short"slide valve T, and? Y a similar arrangementV of portsh, 71,', j, to`those commonly employed 1 in small slide valve steam engines, the porti., communi`- partment of the said cylinder, the port hf,"

ofthe said cylinder and the port @with an; exhaust pipe Z2, which mayopen into` the main engine. The `steam chest II, is sup` plied withsteam from the boiler by a pipe 1l, which connects `with `a small valve`boxm,"1 at the back of the steam cliest.H`,`fsaid valve stop valve n,whose stem it', is connected with a hand lever p." The steam pipefl,isitted with. a plunger valve g,- andthe exhaust pipe la, with aMsimilar valve r, the" s means notnecessary to be here described `to fcontrol. the admission `and escape of steam." The slide valve T,` hasitswstem;uyconnected J, which is arranged towork in bearings fu, o,secured to the` side pipes C, C; and whose arm wi, connects with `therod Ki, of an eccentric K, on the main` or crankf` 'from such mainshaft, described. :v i i The rock-shaft J, is `furnished with a handlever L,to enable theA valve T, to be as will be presently` pistons andvalvesand -valve gear" may be considered as an-auxiliary` engine.Theupper piston rode, is furnished with a crosshead c4', and theloweronewith a cross-head iii proportion tothe main engine cylinder` 601 passingthrough a stuftingbox in its upper, 651

C, C. It is furnished with avalve chest7A catingwith the bottom of theupper com-175 with the bottom of the lower compartment s s atmosphere orinto the condenser oftthe `S".`

box being iitted with a slidingI throttle and 85"" said valves beingcapable of adjustment by with the arm w, of a horizontal "rockshaft"shaft of the main engin`e` or anyother sha-ft.I y l, provided for thepurpose,ider`1ving motion;`

worked by hand. `The cy131iderD,with its 105 a, each of saidcrossiheads'being secured 119 firmly to its respective piston-rod. Theupper cross-head a, has connected with Vit-the stem z', of the upperinduction valve I, and thestem e', of the lower eduction valve E', andthe lower cross-head a', has;attached to it the stem z", of the lowerinduction valve I', and the stem e, of the upper eduction valve E.

The connection of the stem e, with the cross head a', is made by meansof a vertical rod b, which is rigidly attached to the said stem by anarm 6*, and hence the two stems e, e', are prevented interfering witheach other. The stems z', i', are furnished with fast collars f, f',above their respective cross heads and the stem e', and rod b, arefurnished with similar collars c, e', against which the cross headspress upward to lift the valves of the main engine when the pistons F,F', of the auxiliary engine are raised by the pressure of steam belowthem in the cylinder D; but the said stems and rod are so fitted totheir respective cross-heads that the latter are capable of sliding onthe said stems and rod below the said collars. The object of such modeof tting the stems to the cross heads is to permit the eduction valvesof the main engine to be opened a little before the induction valvesthereof, and to permit the cross heads to descend with the saidinduction valves to cut oif the steam while the said eduction valvesremain open, Springs 4, 4', are applied between the cross heads and thecollars f, f', of the induction valve stems of the main engine to enablethe eduction valves to be' iirst opened, the induction valves notcommencing to open till the elasticity of the spring is overcome by theupward pressure of the cross heads.

N, is a horizontal rock-shaft arranged to work in bearings bolted to thebacks of the side pipes, said rockshaft being furnished with two toes O,O', which are arranged under arms P, P', the former of which is fastupon the rod b, and the latter upon the stem e'. The said rock shaft isalso furnished with an arm Q., by which it is connected with theeccentric rod Ks, and caused to derive a rocking motionV from theeccentric K, coinciding with the rocking motion of the rockshaft J. Thetoes O, O', are so arranged that they follow the arms P, P', and theirrespective rod b, and valve stem e', are raised by their respectivecross heads, for the purpose of being ready to receive the said arms-andsupport the said rod and stem and so keep the eduction valves of themain 'engine open to the end of the stroke of its piston notwithstandingthe descent of thecrossheads to permit the closing of its inductionvalves to cut off the steam. f l

The operation of the valve gear is as follows: The slide valve T, of theauxiliary engine is worked by the eccentric K, in the same-manner as theslide valve of an ordi- -nary steam engine admitting steam to each 'ofcutting off steam early in the upward stroke of either of thecpistons F,F',. that the steam may be -allowed* to act expansively upon saidpistons. Whensteam is admitted to the `upper compartment of the saidcylinder D, it raises the piston F, and with it the upper inductionvalve I, and lower eduction valve E', of the main engine, effecting avery quick opening of said valves and admitting steam to the upper endof the cylinder of the said engine and permitting its exhaust from thelower end thereof. When the steam has been-cut: offI from the passageit, by the movement of the slide valve T, and the exhaust permitted fromthe upper compartment of the cylinder D, the piston F, descends with thevalve I, to cut ofl'y the steam from the main engine, but the descent ofthe said pistonis so much checked by the slowness of the exhaustresulting from the contraction of the passage of the exhaust pipe c, bythe valve r, that the valve I, is lowered so gradually as to prevent itsslamming. The eduction valve E', does not descend with the piston F, thetoe not permitting it to close till the stroke of the main engine pistonis terminated. When steam is admittedto the lower compartment of thecylinder D, the piston F', operates in the same manner as abovedescribed with reference to F, and produces the operation of the valvesI', and E, in the same manner asV E'. The cutting off of the steam fromthe main engine by the valves I, and I', is made to take place earlieror later in the stroke of the engine piston by adjusting the valve r, togive a more or less free exhaust.y This may be also varied by giving theslide valve T, more or less movement to make it cut off steam sooner orlater in the stroke of the small pistons F, F', and provision is madefor this latter mode of variation by constructing the arm fw, of therockshaft J, to screw through the said rockshaft as represented in thedrawing or otherwise making provision for varying the eifective lengthof the said arm.

The valve T, may be operated by means of a cam instead of an eccentricand by that means the steam may be cut off in the cylinder D, at anearlier point in the stroke of the engine piston, and so an earliercut'- ting-OH of the steam by the Valves I, I', may be obtained. Y

The heads of the cylinder D, may each 26,275 a a n have an opening Witha pipe attached to communicate with the condenser of the main engine, bywhich means the pistons F, F, may be operated to open the valves withless steam and the cushioning effect of the steam in D, is aided tocheck the descent of the said pistons. Then such connection With thecondenser is not made, no stuffing boxes are required in the heads ofthe cylinder D, but simply guides for the piston rods c, c.

I do not claim broadly effecting the operation of the valves of steamenginesby the direct application of steam but What I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The auxiliary cylinder D, having a partition g, and arrangement ofsteam and exhaust passages substantially as described, and fitted with avalve T, or its equivalent and with two pistons F, F, on opposite sidesof its partition, applied substantially as described in combination withthe induction and eduction valves and the shaft of the main engine sothat each of said pistons acted upon by steam admitted `to its com-`partment of the auxiliary cylinder by the valve T, or its equivalent`serves `to open one induction andthe opposite ediuction ing asdescribed to open the induction and eduction valves of the main engine,I claim the employment of the rockshaft N, and its toes O, O, soappliedfin combination with the said eduction valves that While they1permit the said valves to be opened by the action of the steam on the`pistonsof the` auxiliary cylinder they keep the said valves open as longas may be desired substantially as herein described. 11

` f PETER LoUIs. y

